IndieRF Notes

Engineering notes you can check by hand

Short, reference-plane-honest writeups on RF math, traces, and the limits of the models. Built next to the workbench, not as a marketing blog.

All dB ENIG filter mental-math microstrip noise plating s2p sparam temperature Touchstone trace

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ENIG vs Bare Copper: Why Nickel Adds Microstrip Loss
Aug 30, 2026 · 4 min
On 50 Ω RO4350B microstrip at 10 GHz, ENIG adds about 0.31 dB/in over bare copper. The gold is a flash. The nickel is thicker than a skin depth. Change the finish in Transmission Line Calculator and read the loss.
microstrip · ENIG · plating · trace